Traffic

(A sunset Jason and I spied on the interstate a few nights ago)

One of the uh...perks? about living in the city is the traffic. Jason and I have been spending so much time lately in the stop and go flow that we've come to really appreciate all the creative names for towns, streets, rivers, and exits around here. We were so used to Provo's grid system: North, South, East, West, Center, Main, University, etc... that every street name fascinates us. Here's a list of our new favorites:

Backlick Rd. (Doesn't that conjure up a pleasant image?)
Youghigheny River
Occoquan Rd
Ipswich street
Father Hurley Blvd.
Opossumtown Pike
Pooks Hill Lane(which we affectionately call "Poops Hill")
Hagerstown (you can't say this one properly unless you fake a southern accent and say "Edgar" instead of "Hager")

The most hilarious part of our drives is our poor GPS's (or Nancy as we affectionately call her) struggle to pronounce the street names. We selected the British female accent for her voice and we laugh with hystaria everytime she says "recalculating" which sounds like "re-calc-ca-catating."

Who knew traffic could be so fun?

a new craigslist addict

I can't believe how much time I let go by without posting, but I'm back now. Life has finally settled down a little. Jason returned from COT (his officer's training camp in Alabama) and has begun orientation at the base in Maryland. I'm slowly piecing together our apartment. I really love it, but I'll love it a whole lot more once our furniture arrives tomorrow! We spent all of last week browsing furniture stores and finally splurged on a couple of couches, a bedroom set, a kitchen table, a coffee table and some end tables. I know that if I'd been more patient I could have gotten a much better deal through craigslist, but I just couldn't stand sitting on the floor and eating off of unpacked boxes another day!

Here are a couple of things I found on craigslist last week though that I bought and love.

These chairs need to be painted and recovered, but the detail on the back (and the awesome deal I got!) made them totally worth the long drive to pick them up.



This shelf is the perfect place to store all these dishes I just can't find a place for in my teeny tiny new kitchen. And it was a coincidence that the red on the shelf matches the dishes. I'm so excited about it.

Adams Canyon

So, other than the tarantula drama, the hike was very cool. I highly recommend this trail to any avid hikers out there- it got pretty intense too sometimes. Here's a crazy bridge that we had to cross:


The entire trail follows some beautiful rapids full of large boulders and mini-waterfalls. Jason climbed between two large rocks at one point:


And the wild-life was great. These 12" long lizards with amazing yellow and purple striped backs slithered all over the trail. We counted about 20 of them during our hike.


It took us nearly 2 hours to hike all the way in, but the waterfall at the end was breathtakingly beautiful and totally worth it. You can hear the crashing water of the falls for about 5 minutes before you arrive, but the dense leaves and rocks all around you prevent you from seeing it until the very last second. It was an amazing sight and the drizzle coming off the falls was the perfect way to cool down from the challenging climb.



Directions to Adams Canyon:

Trailhead: To find the trail head take hwy 89 north to Layton, turn right on East 1200 North road then immediately turn right on Eastside road. Near the end of eastside road you will see a dirt parking area. This is the trail head parking.

Trail details: This is a very popular hiking trail in Davis County.
This trail is popular due to its accessibility and the scenic beauty of the beautiful 40 foot waterfall at the end of the trail. In the first half mile you will climb over 500 feet. After you cross the shoreline trail you will drop some to the creek level then you will rise about 800 additional feet over the next .8 miles. The trail follows the North Fork of Holms creek through shady scrub oak and majestic white pine the rest of the way.

TARANTULA!!

Jason and I went for a hike on Friday in Adams Canyon. (how could I avoid a canyon that bears my family name?) The hike was suppose to lead us to an amazing 40ft waterfall. Well, that's not the only thing that we ran into. About an hour into our hike I stumbled across this guy- right in the middle of our trail!



At first I was like, "Oh wow, that's a tarantula." Then it dawned on me that I was inches away from a gigantic spider that wasn't enclosed in a little glass container. This guy was in his natural habitat. That's when I screamed. Jason saved the day when he oh-so-bravely picked up a stick and gently coxed the spider onto it. He put him on a neighboring rock so I could safely walk past. (yeah...I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to arachnids)

Thunderstorm

Jess and I drove to the top of Squaw Peak to get one last look at all of Provo. While we were up there the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up and we had an amazing view of a lightning storm over Provo. Jess got some awesome photos.

Cafe Rio-how will we live without you?

Jess and I went to Cafe Rio for the last time this week. While we were innocently enjoying our pork barbacoa salads it started raining on us while we were in the sunshine...a very weird occurance. We hurried to finish our salads and rushed to our car, but just as we were leaving we spotted this amazing rainbow over our favorite restaurant. :)

Chasing Rainbows

Jason and I went out for a walk and got caught in a rainstorm! Just when we were going to run back home, we spied this beautiful rainbow over the "Y" and began following it with childish enthusiasm.






The rainbow was so powerful that even the sidewalk picked up its reflection. Pretty soon the rainbow completely disappeared, the sun came out and the clouds began to part. The sky was beautiful.







The experience reminded us of our favorite skittles commercial:

Got a lot of livin' to do!

Rules: Anything you have done has to be in bold and/or underlined. How much have you done?


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (High School band count?? :) )
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (No fair! It was closed when I was there!)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill...hehe
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (debatable, but yes!)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (never again!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (but not as the patient)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (if you're happy and you know it?)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (worst thanksgiving ever! haha, I was a sadly selfish teen!)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (all of the above!)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check :(
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (a book at a time!)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (too many times...)
100. Visited Italy

Phew! I’ve gotta lot of livin’ to do!
(So of course this song came to mind- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMXDOodv4t8)

Obsession

Whenever Aaron and Max come over, dinner is inevitably followed by 2-3 hours of playing old Nintendo games. And these are some serious games! They may just be playing super dodge ball (the game that Jason got for his 10th birthday) but they are still yelling and laughing hysterically and threatening each other like their lives depend on winning! Take a look at this secret footage I got of them.

(notice that outside it goes from being day to night and yet, they are still on the couch playing the exact same game...lol)

"All at once one day it's spring..." :)

Jason and I have been craving warm, spring weather like no one's business!! During the last two weeks (whenever it has warmed up to 50+) we've taken a hike in the canyon, rode our bikes along Provo river trail, and played tennis in the evening. On St. Patty's day we got blessed with some warm weather and took a stroll to Bridal Veil Falls. Jason wasn't as convinced as I was of how warm it was outside, so he made a studly-man cape out of our picnic blanket.

The falls are still completely frozen over (seems they haven't got the memo that it's time for spring) but we made the best of it and even found some patches of green to take a picture with. Yay for spring!

(We also found a long lost Adams family relative...Cousin It! See the resemblance??)

Bane of my Existence

I'm taking calculus right now, and though it's not conceptually as difficult as other classes I've taken (such as organic chemistry or applied physics) it is soooo time consuming and so annoying that the only words that come to my mind when thinking about it are- "bane of my existence." That got me thinking..."where did that phrase come from and what the heck does it mean?" So, nerd that I am, I looked it up. Here's what google told me:

To say that something or someone is "the bane of my existence" means
that the person or thing is a constant irritant or source of misery.
As a cliche, "bane of my existence" has lost its edge to a large
degree over the years, and today is most often applied to something
that may profoundly annoy us but is certainly bearable... "Bane of my
existence" is now almost always used in a semi-jocular, "what are you
gonna do?" sense.

But "bane" was once a very serious word. The Old English "bana" meant
literally "slayer" in the sense we now use "killer" or "murderer."
Early on, the English "bane" was also used in the more general sense
of "cause of death," and by the 14th century "bane" was used in the
specialized sense of "poison," a sense which lives on in the names of
various poisonous plants such as "henbane" and "wolfbane."

From this very literal "something that kills you" usage, "bane" by the
16th century had broadened into its modern meaning of "something that
makes life unpleasant, a curse."

- So Calculus isn't poison and it certainly isn't going to "slay" me, but it is definitely a curse and I can't wait to be done with it.

(I googled the two inventors of Calculus. Turns out if was Newton and Leibniz, a drag queen and a vampire respectively. Huh, who knew?)

Wintery Walk

Jason and I took a stroll down the Provo River Trail to enjoy the 40 degree weather and sunny sky on Sunday. Winter can be such a depressing time, but we saw some pretty beautiful sights. This trail is one of the many things we'll miss about Provo!

Loverly Suprises

Jason and I really made an effort to make Valentine's day special this year. So, we decided to recreate our first Valentine's Day together from 3 years ago. While he was gone at work, I decorated the house with balloons and trails of chocolate and left notes all over the house and hid presents for him to find. Later, while I was gone at work, he cooked an amazing gourmet meal for me out of our Cuisine magazine (which is a fabulous magazine that I highly recommend to everyone). He had a dozen roses, a bottle of Martinelli's, and my present- "Mamma Mia!" waiting for me when I walked in the door later that night. To top it all off we went dancing after dinner and had a great time. I'm so grateful for my wonderful, thoughtful husband. I love you baby! :)

Here's a video clip from our first Valentine's Day together. This is Jason discovering the surprise I left in his apartment for him.


A Scrumptious "Choco-Colada" Cheesecake Jason made: (coconut, chocolate deliciousness)


Our yummy dinner complete with french bread and balsamic vinegar and oil dipping sauce. (Jason thinks of everything!)


My recreation of our first Valentine's. (The notes were a lot more profound this year!)


Here's my personal chef in action in the kitchen: (and yes, that is HIS apron)

Oh the Cheese...

Jason and I went to a dance on Valentine's day and had a really fun time. There was a live band and lots of food and people. We had a few pictures taken at the "photo" area while there. Though this picture is so cheesy I almost gag looking at it, I thought it was worth sharing to document our night.